Campaign at a Glance | Shadows of the Compañeros

Premise

In the summer of 7202 Post Sundering, the San Telmo Incident exposes an active listening chamber beneath a plantation estate on Canula Prime. The immediate disaster may have been contained, but reports, samples, witnesses, and contradictory ledgers have already begun to move. The Convener calls an international conference to restore confidence, secure trade, and prove that the island remains governable. In private, the Project Custodian intends to turn the crisis into an auction.

The characters are attached to the DeSauros mission from the Duchy of Heller, a Valdegracian duchy whose commercial flexibility and hidden naval strength make it useful, suspect, and dangerous. Their visible task is to support the delegation during negotiations. Their real work is to decide which truths can be proved, which people can be protected, and whether the device recovered from San Telmo is a machine, a key, or an ear pressed against something deeper inland.

Campaign Profile

FIELD	DEFAULT
Setting	Canula Prime, Boca Serena, Porto Sombra, San Telmo, the inland jungle, and the skies above the Golden Sea.
Length	12-18 sessions; shorter tables may combine Acts I-II and VI-VII.
Core Modes	Political intrigue, investigation, covert action, social leverage, rescue, airship conflict, jungle survival, and Source horror.
Player Position	Agents, escorts, negotiators, specialists, or deniable operatives attached to the DeSauros mission.
Central Themes	Loyalty, exploitation, redemption, colonial ambition, buried history, and the price of controlling knowledge.
Default Continuity	Begins after the San Telmo Incident; an alternate prologue supports standalone play.
System Support	Conversion guidance for D&D 5e, Pathfinder First Edition, Pathfinder 2e Remastered, and Forged in the Dark.

Setting

DEFAULT: Canula Prime, Boca Serena, Porto Sombra, San Telmo, the inland jungle, and the skies above the Golden Sea.

Length

DEFAULT: 12-18 sessions; shorter tables may combine Acts I-II and VI-VII.

Core Modes

DEFAULT: Political intrigue, investigation, covert action, social leverage, rescue, airship conflict, jungle survival, and Source horror.

Player Position

DEFAULT: Agents, escorts, negotiators, specialists, or deniable operatives attached to the DeSauros mission.

Central Themes

DEFAULT: Loyalty, exploitation, redemption, colonial ambition, buried history, and the price of controlling knowledge.

Default Continuity

DEFAULT: Begins after the San Telmo Incident; an alternate prologue supports standalone play.

System Support

DEFAULT: Conversion guidance for D&D 5e, Pathfinder First Edition, Pathfinder 2e Remastered, and Forged in the Dark.

The Eight Acts

ACT	TITLE	CENTRAL CHANGE
I	Ashes of San Telmo	The previous ending becomes the starting political reality.
II	Masks at the Table	Formal negotiations turn every discovery into leverage.
III	The Shadowed Tide	The party uncovers the trafficking network beneath respectable trade.
IV	The Ear	A reconstructed listening device points toward the true inland Source.
V	Wolf in the Clouds	Van Rijn fixes Albion’s frigates while landing sloops approach the island and Wolfhound closes from behind.
VI	The Jungle Remembers	The Clann intervene, erase the battlefield, and test the party.
VII	The Breathing Source	Contradictory signals force the Source into a failed correction.
VIII	The Price of Fortune	The characters decide what becomes law, scandal, secret, or war.

TITLE: Ashes of San Telmo
CENTRAL CHANGE: The previous ending becomes the starting political reality.

TITLE: Masks at the Table
CENTRAL CHANGE: Formal negotiations turn every discovery into leverage.

III

TITLE: The Shadowed Tide
CENTRAL CHANGE: The party uncovers the trafficking network beneath respectable trade.

TITLE: The Ear
CENTRAL CHANGE: A reconstructed listening device points toward the true inland Source.

TITLE: Wolf in the Clouds
CENTRAL CHANGE: Van Rijn fixes Albion’s frigates while landing sloops approach the island and Wolfhound closes from behind.

TITLE: The Jungle Remembers
CENTRAL CHANGE: The Clann intervene, erase the battlefield, and test the party.

VII

TITLE: The Breathing Source
CENTRAL CHANGE: Contradictory signals force the Source into a failed correction.

VIII

TITLE: The Price of Fortune
CENTRAL CHANGE: The characters decide what becomes law, scandal, secret, or war.

What the Characters Actually Do

Protect witnesses and decide which authorities may question them.

Build a negotiation position from evidence, alliances, favors, and controlled disclosures.

Infiltrate delegation quarters, estates, warehouses, prisons, and laboratories.

Choose whether to work with Montoya, the Shadowed Tide, Vega, the Clann, or none of them.

Break or expose a trafficking route without sacrificing the people trapped inside it.

Fight through an aerial and ground extraction while command signals fail above the clouds.

Enter a sacred Source complex where memory and matter no longer remain separate, then return to the table and decide which truth the region can survive.